Burning & Breathing
by sincerely- scripted
Summary: Travis and Katies life after Camp Half-Blood. Travis has news for Katie and she needs a friends help to see what is really going on.


I was suffering from whatever you call the opposite of writers block is. I have way too many ideas and am now bored with the Katie Gardner story i was writing. For all the KG loyal readers out there, I am coming back. i just want to let loose a few ideas i have stored in my brain before I lose them. Be patient.

On of the ideas i am now testing in the below writing. I realized there are a lot of Tratie stories that take place at camp so my goal is to fill in what happens next. This piece is a bit heavy and dramatic but cute if you look really close and read between the lines. I already have two more "after camp" stories lined up but i would love love love if you guys would send me prompts and review on what you think happens to the couple.

enjoy!

* * *

The hot air hit Katie's skin the instant she stepped out into the street. She turned to her left and walked swiftly passed the windows making sure to avert her eyes from the person sitting just beyond the glass. Not sure of where to go, the young woman just walked and walked. Irritating many people along the busy sidewalks of New York, her feet knew where to go before her mind did. Before she knew it, Katie found herself at the edge of a little, green, patch of heaven in the middle of the Big Apple, Central Park.

She walked and walked until finally breaking down. She curled up, knees to chest, on a green bench shaded by a large Oak tree. Overlooking a view of a creek it was serene. Katie took a breath for what felt like the first time in hours. The slow breathing turned into panting.

_How could he put me in this position?_ She thought. _Why?_

Two ducks flew down from the sky and landed in the water. Katie watched them for some time. She focused on them and her breathing and blocked out the street noise. They chased each other back and forth across the stream. The darker one swam behind the lighter. They stopped in the middle and the lighter one ducked its head under the water. The two took turns going under. As one went down the other would swim in circles around it as if protecting it from trouble. They swam around together some more. Katie was at peace watching the ducks. Then a flock flew overhead and the couple followed. They left. Now all that was in front of Katie was an empty stream with a few ripples from the departed ducks.

Finding no more excuses to distract her mind, Katie thought about her own flight from the diner. But she couldn't fight it with herself. Katie's mind and heart were tangled together in a way that could cause damage to too many involved.

She pulled her phone out of her pocket. Luckily, she had placed it there before leaving the diner and her purse behind.

Katie scrolled through the list of names trying to find the person she could call for help. She saw the names of her co-workers, she couldn't call them. She saw Clarisse's name. Katie and Clarisse had an odd relationship. They were never close growing up. They had become closer after moving to the big city and their boyfriends, who were also half-brothers, became roommates. Clarisse could be trusted when Katie needed help with major decisions that involved strategy and planning. She scrolled passed the name. Clarisse was not the person to ask. Most likely, she would laugh at Katie's predicament.

She kept scrolling down. Names of people Katie hadn't spoken to in years went by. Knowing the name of the man who caused her this pain was approaching; Katie quickly went by, her thumb applying too much force to the small screen in the palm of her hand.

Then she found the name she was looking for. Will. He was her best friend growing up. They hadn't seen each other in months, though they still talked. He was busy at medical school on the other side of the country. Katie, not wanting to change her mind, pressed the little green phone button in the corner, and called him.

Two rings. Then he picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's Katie," she tried to sound cheerful. Part of her was happy to be talking to Will but she called for a reason.

"Hey, Kate, how's it going?" Katie heard voices on the other side of the phone.

"Is this a bad time?" she asked.

"No, I'm in the car on my way to the airport, actually. Your timing couldn't be more perfect. What's up?"

"Why does something always have to be 'up'? Can't I just call up a friend who I haven't spoken to in a really long time just to say hi?" She said accusingly.

"Because I know you too well." He almost laughed to himself. "C'mon, tell me what happened."

"Well, I am having a sort of dilemma over here on the east coast. Travis . . . well, he . . . umm. . . I'm not exactly sure what he was thinking . . . he is putting me on the spot. I don't know what to do!" Katie was becoming unglued and Will could tell.

"Whoa, there, calm down. Just tell me what happened."

Katie took a deep breath.

"Well, he wanted to have lunch together today. No big deal right? I've been stressed out over my internship and he knows that. I thought he was taking me out so I could get my mind off things. But he decided that he wanted to take that chance to tell me he wants to join the police academy! He wants to be a cop! I guess I should have seen it coming. Ever since the war a few years ago, and with his mom, she was a cop. 'I finally understand why she left Connor and me to go out there.' He tells me. How could he do this to me? I feel like he is leaving. It's for his pride. I went kind of crazy after the war. I know that. But I was calming down. After Michael died, I started losing my mind. What if I lose him? I can't lose him, Will, I just can't." Katie was on the verge of tears. She stopped talking to hide the fact that if she opened her mouth, she would be choking up.

"Are you done now?" He took her silence as a yes. "There are so many things wrong with what you just told me.

"First of all, you didn't lose your mind. You saw war. That's bound to leave a lasting mark on all of us. For you, it was fear. For me, it made me realize how much I wanted to help people. For Travis, he wants to help protect. Don't you see? He told you he realized why his mom went out day after day. She was protecting the people she loved; Travis and Connor. It's not for his pride. He wants to protect you Katie! That's all. You're scared of losing him; he is scared of losing you, that's love. Now, what did you say after he told you?"

"Nothing. I walked away."

"You did what?"

"What was I supposed to do?"

"Oh, I don't know? Tell him how you really feel."

Katie groaned, "You make it sound easy."

"Well shouldn't it be? You have been in a relationship with this guy for five years. You've known him for four years before that. You're overreacting. As usual. Remember when he asked you to move in with him? And you waited a week to give him an answer. You thought that it was too much to live together even though you were practically at his place every day. What you need to do is go back to Travis and tell him how you feel. Got it?"

"You're a good friend Will. Do you know that?"

"Promise me you will go talk to him right now."

"I promise."

"Good. So when I get into town tomorrow you two are going to treat me to dinner, right?"

"That's why you're going to the airport?! Why didn't you tell me?"

"I'm in town to for a lecture. It was going to be a surprise. Should've known you would ruin it somehow."

"This is so exciting. Yes, we will definitely -"

"Go Katie. Stop talking to me and go make things right."

* * *

Katie didn't go back to work. She called in for the rest of the day. Travis was gone for the rest of that afternoon, leaving Katie alone in their apartment.

She didn't answer her cell phone when it rang and his picture popped up on the screen. The message said he would be home at five and that he was sorry and he understands what this means to her. That gave Katie three hours to pull herself together. She had to get her emotions under control. She had to tell him how she felt, no matter what the consequences were.

Her heart pounded fast in her chest when she heard him jiggle the front door knob. She stood behind the small circular table that took up most of the space in their small kitchen. While trying to clear her mind she had cleaned the entire apartment and made dinner. Travis' favorite was chocolate-chip pancakes; two were cooking on the kitchen counter.

The door opened hesitantly. He was scared to come in. One foot came through then another.

The couple stood on opposite sides of the room. Neither spoke.

Travis looked as distraught as Katie. His ice blue eyes were pleading to her. His mouth opened to talk.

"Kates, I-"

Travis' breath was knocked out of him. Katie practically leaped the small space between the two and hugged him. She squeezed around his shoulders furious with herself. Why did she walk away from that diner?

"I'm sorry," he whispered into her hair.

Katie pulled away from him to look Travis in the eye. They were still pleading. She needed him to know how much she loved him. How much she needed him. Not thinking of the right words to say, Katie reached up on her toes and she kissed Travis. What she couldn't say she tried to push out of her body and make him understand. They pulled each other as close as they could, as close as possible. When the couple let go for air, their chests clinged to each other. Floods of "I'm sorry"'s exploded from their lips.

"You've nothing to be sorry for Katie. It's my fault." Travis told her.

Katie took her arms away from where they were clinging to his back. She brought them forward and under Travis' strong arms so they separated the two.

"No, I do. I ran away. I should have stayed there. I should have stayed there and . . . and-"

"Kate," Travis was trying to let her off the hook but she wouldn't let him. Katie reached up and put a finger to his lips to silence them.

"I need to say this. Okay?" Travis nodded. Slowly he led her backwards to a small kitchen chair. Katie sat down quietly and Travis kneeled in front, holding her hands.

"I understand now. I get it. I know why you have to do this. I couldn't before but I do now. If this is what you want . . . If this is what you want, I'm okay with it. I love you. No matter what separates us, we always come back to each other, right?"

Travis' eyes glistened. A smile stretched across his face.

"Right," he took his hands out of hers and reached forward to cradle Katie's face. They kissed like they had before. Each trying to push out all the emotion they held inside into the other. When their lips broke apart, Travis kept his hands on her cheeks, and they bent their foreheads together.

"I love you, so much. Do you know that? I can't even imagine you having a silly thought that I would leave you." The couple laughed. "After all these years of pranking and laughing and yelling and loving, I am always around, and I always come back."

They stayed like that, eyes closed and leaning in, for a few more minutes. They only sound was of that of breathing and heartbeats.

"So you really love me?" Katie asked her face smiled. The light in her eyes, that had been missing all afternoon, returned.

"Of course I do," said Travis, suddenly confused, he just had a big speech on the matter.

"So you're not going to be mad at me?" Katie's face filled with a sly grin.

"Why would I be mad?"

"I think I just burned your dinner."

They both sniffed at the air and, for the first time, their noses registered the burning smell. Katie buried her face in Travis' chest, hiding laughter. He looked to the counter and saw the two black circles and the smoke radiating from them.

Travis sighed and shook his head at the girl he held in his arms.


End file.
